Soroti leaders decry low funds allocated to PWDs
SOROTI – Soroti City leaders want the money allocated under the Special Grant for Persons with Disabilities [PWDs] to be increased by the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development [MGLSD], saying the current allocation does not match the rising number of PWDs.
MGLSD started giving out the special grant to organised PWDs groups in the 2009/10 financial year to help them undertake income-generating activities that would create employment and improve their income status.
But Joan Alobo Achom, the woman MP Soroti City, said recently that the money allocated to PWDs in Soroti City was very little compared to the growing number of PWDs.
The MP was recently speaking at Soroti City Mayors Gardens where the State Minister for Disability, Hellen Grace Asamo was the chief guest at the launch of the wheelchair project sponsored by O.J Disability Care Foundation.
MP Achom said PWDs in Soroti City received only Shs 7million in the last quarter of the current financial year. The money was to be shared between two divisions- Soroti East Division and Soroti West Division.
“There is funding coming from the government but it’s not sufficient enough looking at the number of PWDs and the differences in disabilities. For Soroti, we could not even have the disability day celebration,” she said.
The legislator explained that the number of disability cases is increasing every day and that the number of people joining disability groups is increasing due to rampant accidents in the country.
She said that the PWDs in the city have utilised the special grant properly, ” But it is inadequate given the disability population that is increasing every day.”
In the financial year 2020/2021, the government enhanced the National Special Grant to Shs 5bln to benefit PWDs across the country.
According to guidelines, the PWDs grant is given to organized groups of between five and 10 persons, with each receiving Shs 5mln, but Soroti City leaders say it’s still inadequate given the high number of PWDs.
Frank Tumwebeze the councilor representing PWDs in Soroti City Council who doubles as the Deputy Speaker said the number of PWDs in the city increases every day, which constraints the already meager funds.
He urged the government to ensure that the legal frameworks that govern the PWDs in the country are observed.
Executive director of O.J Disability Care Foundation, Julius Opoi said that the wheelchairs got from their partners in Europe, would assist PWDs to become productive members of their communities but also aid their movement to schools and churches.
Opoi said MPs should allocate money in the next budget for procurement of tricycles for PWDs.
He pointed out that there is high demand for mobility amongst the PWDs in Uganda which necessitates the procurement of the tricycles, further noting that owning a wheelchair is a human right on the side of the PWDs.
Minister Hellen Grace Asamo said that whereas the funding under Special Grant was meagre, the government has added Shs 9.6 billion and that 10 percent of the Shs 100mln meant for the Parish Development Model [PDM] will benefit the PWDs.
Asamo urged the PWDs to use the money to change their lives. “They [PWDs] should not get this money and begin to eat it. I want to encourage them to use the money wisely to benefit their familIes” she said.
https://thecooperator.news/soroti-pwds-to-receive-shs-50m-from-the-national-special-grant/
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